Oakley Radarlock Path sunglasses

Top-quality eyewear offering excellent protection, but you have to pay for the privilege

Weight:

30g

Contact:

www.oakley.com

Oakley Radarlock Path sunglasses

810Mat Brett

Oakley Radarlock Path sunglasses 2

These Oakley Radarlock Path sunglasses are excellent glasses made with Oakley's usual high-quality optics, although the price is certainly steep.

The frame is made from a material that Oakley call O Matter. Let's be honest, it's a type of plastic; it's lightweight and pretty durable. It'll bend to a certain degree rather than simply snap which is vital because, try as hard as you like, sooner or later you'll do something stupid like drop them or sit on them (what, that's just me? I don't believe you).

The earsocks – the temple grips, in plain English – are made from what Oakley call Unobtainium, which is a soft, rubbery material that holds the glasses in place well even when you work up a sweat. The nose pad is made of the same stuff and it works a treat to stop the specs slipping down. You get a spare nose pad in the box.

The lens is one piece and it fastens securely to the frame. You get really good coverage extending well below and to the side of your eyes so there's virtually no chance of insects, pinging gravel or any other foreign object getting in. The same goes for wind and rain.

I really like the fact that there's no frame at the sides or below the lens to interrupt your vision. It gets on my nerves if I look over my shoulder to see what cars or other riders are doing and can't get a good view because part of the frame is in the way. That doesn't happen here.

The lens is vented with two little cutaways on either side and that does make a difference. You can fog up any lenses in the right circumstances but it doesn't happen often in these.

You get two lenses. First, there's the persimmon (orange) one which is suitable for duller days, then there's the fire iridium one which is a darker lens with a shiny orange finish. That one is best for bright days. There's no apparent distortion of light despite the highly curved lens surface.

Replacements and other tint options are available although they're not cheap. A clear one will cost you 50 quid, for example, while a photochromic one (where the tint alters according to light conditions) is a whopping £140.

The lenses are made from Plutonite which is another of Oakley's own words, this time for their polycarbonate blend. It blocks 100% of all UVA, UVB, UVC and blue light to protect your eyes.

Swapping the lenses over is really easy thanks to Oakley's Switchlock design (which is a feature you don't get on the Oakley Radar Paths we reviewed on Road.cc earlier in the year), although the instructions you get with the glasses are open to misinterpretation. If you struggle, go to YouTube and you'll find better instructions and demonstrations.

Essentially, there's a catch on one side of the frame that you slide to open a gate that holds the lens in place. Get it right and the process takes seconds and there's zero chance that you'll damage the lens. It's an excellent design.

I've used these with a variety of different bike helmets from Giro, Bell and Bontrager and they've all been perfectly compatible without any snagging against the shell. If you're thinking of buying these in a shop as opposed to online, it might be a good idea to take your bike helmet along to check that they work together, just to be on the safe side.

In terms of performance, these really are excellent. They provide first-class eye protection, they stay put, they don't fog up easily and it's easy to swap the lenses. Treat them right and store them in the tough box that comes as part of the package and they should last you ages. They're still expensive, though.

Verdict

Top-quality eyewear offering excellent protection, but you have to pay for the privilege.

road.cc test report

Make and model: Oakley Radarlock Path sunglasses

Size tested: Blood Orange

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Here's Oakley's massive write-up...

RADARLOCK PATH SUNGLASSES

The ultimate sport performance product, this revolutionary eyewear lets athletes take full advantage of Oakley's wide array of performance lenses, thanks to an ingenious invention called Switchlock™ Technology that makes lens changing fast and hassle-free. Switchlock lets you adapt your vision for any environment and keep up with changing light, and all lenses are optimized with the unrivaled clarity and impact resistance of High Definition Optics® (HDO®). Engineered to meet the uncompromising demands of world-class athletes, RadarLock™ changes the game with a new definition of performance.

Whether you're competing for Gold or just squeezing every ounce of possibility out of those prized moments of athletic escape, you're either wearing RadarLock™ or wishing you were. If you haven't heard about Oakley Switchlock Technology, you're wasting too much time fumbling with the outdated designs of ordinary interchangeable lens systems. Our simple switch mechanism makes the process quick and easy, and the lens is held securely in place without uneven pressures that can bend it and distort your vision. Somebody finally got it right, and did so with a vengeance against conventional technology.

HDO® sets the standard for optical clarity, visual fidelity, and impact resistance, and RadarLock is racked and revved with all those benefits including Polaric Ellipsoid™ geometry to extend clarity across the entire lens. The sweeping contour gives you a wide-open view with maximized peripheral vision and enhanced side protection against sun, wind and impact. You'll have optical performance rated at ANSI Z87.1, and that same uncompromising level of standards applies to protection against high velocity and high mass impact. For even more protection, our Plutonite® lens material filters out every eye-searing ray of UV.

The lightweight yet insanely durable frame is made of O Matter™ and shaped with surge ports to maintain a cooling flow of air. Interchangeable nose pads let you achieve a comfortable, customizable fit, and the earsocks are made of the same sport-optimized Unobtainium® to increase grip when you sweat. You won't feel any uneven pressure points with this frame because its Three-Point Fit doesn't hook your ears '' it just holds the frame comfortably in place while keeping the lens in precise optical alignment.

RadarLock comes in an Oakley Soft Vault case that lets you store an extra lens, and each frame comes with two lenses: one for bright days and one for low-light conditions. Choose Oakley HDPolarized technology and enjoy the glare-killing clarity of the best polarized lenses on the planet.

Balance light transmission and tune your vision with Iridium® lens coatings, and take advantage of Oakley Photochromic technology for optics that darken automatically in response to sunlight. Oakley Authentic Prescription Lens Inserts are available for RadarLock Path and Pitch.

Mat has worked for loads of bike magazines over the past 20 years, and been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. He's been road.cc technical editor for seven years, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a past winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer.